Electric light fixture



July 11, 1961 B, FLETCHER 2,992,323

ELECTRIC LIGHT FIXTURE Filed May 5, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet` 1 45 4a 39 43INVENmRK /RLHA FLETcf/R BY 30 @wmf MM2/ www( FTT/VE July ll, 1961 H. B.FLETCHER- 2,992,323

ELECTRIC LIGHT FIXTURE Filed May 5, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 /9' 5,9 1755 63 ,l Il.J

34 4 3724 7 :I: i ',519 3 44 25 l' 25 43 4@ z lo /2 39 INVENTOR. /MRLn/V FLETCHER @ma @Lm/1MM A HTTOR/VEYS July 11, 1961 H, B, FLETCHER2,992,323

ELECTRIC LIGHT FIXTURE Filed May 5, 1959 F/G.7 I

4 Sheets-Sheet 5 /7 TTG/WYE July 11, 1961 H, B, FLETCHER 2,992,323?

ELECTRIC LIGHT FIXTURE Filed May 5, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 gym@ HTTRNEKSUnited States Filed May 5, 19'59, Ser. No. 811,100 6 Claims. (Cl.240-85) This invention relates to an electric light fixture of the typewhich includes a supporting canopy, a socket element carrying the lightunit, and a reflector.

I One object of the invention is to provide an electric light fixture ofthis type in which the socket element is made 1n two separatesections-ie., a socket cap section which carries the wiring terminalsand a socket body section which carries the light unit, and in which thesocket cap section is secured to and supported by the canopy, while thesocket body section is mounted on the reflector, and the reector, withthe socket body attached thereto, is detachably mounted on the socketcap sectlon.

In the drawings wherein one embodiment of the invention is shown,

FIG. 1 shows an underside perspective view of the canopy element;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the socket cap section;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the top of the neck portion of thereflector;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the top portion of the socket bodysection;

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view through the light fixture with thesocket cap section shown in elevation, said section being on the line5-5 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 6 is a plan View of the assembled socket cap section, reflectorneck, and socket body section;

FIG. 7 is a vertical section through the canopy, the socket section, andthe upper portion of the socket body section, the section through thesocket cap being on the line 7-7 of FIG. 12; FIG. 8 illustrates thecomplete light iixture wtih the canopy and refiector shown in section;

FIG. 9 is a plan view of the socket body section;

FIG. 10 is a perspective of the top plate of the socket cap section;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged section on the line 11-11 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 12 is a plan view of the socket cap section;

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the neck ofthe reiiector;

FIG. 14 is a plan View of the supporting member of the socket capsection; and

FIG. 15 is a perspective View of one of the combined wiring terminalsand contacts of the socket cap section.

The canopy element of the fixture is indicated at 3 and it may have anyusual construction except that it is provided on its interior with aplurality of vertical supporting ribs 4, three of such ribs being hereinillustrated.

The socket cap section is indicated generally at 5, and Vit is securedto and supported by the ribs 4 of the canopy. It is formed with a bodyportion 6 which has secured to its lower. end a supporting plate 7 thatis provided with radially extending at supporting arms 8. Each of theflat arms 8 is provided in one side edge thereof with an open slot 11 toreceive an attaching screw 12 by which said arm is secured to the bottomof one of the ribs 4' of Vthe canopy, each screw 12 being screw threadedinto an opening in the bottom of the corresponding rib.

The supporting plate 7 has a central annular body 7a, and thebodyportion 6 of the socket cap is provided with an extension 10 of reduceddiameter which extends through said annular body 7a. Said supportingplate is also provided with a diametrically extending portion 9.2,992,323 Patented July il, 1961 which is received in a recess formedin the bottom of said extension 10 whereby the supporting plate and thesocket cap are locked against any turning movement relative to eachother. The supporting plate 7 is secured to the body portion 6 of thesocket cap 5 by means of a screw 57 which extends through thediametrical portion 9 of said plate and the socket cap body 6 and into aplate 19 on the top of said body.

The socket cap 5 is provided with wiring terminals 46 to which the linewires 47 and 47a are connected and which will be hereinafter referredto.

The socket body section is shown at 30, and it carries the light unit65. It is mounted on and supported by the neck 23 of the reflector 21 aswill be presently described, and the reflector with the socket bodyattached thereto is mounted on and supported by the socket cap. For thispurpose, each flat arm 8 of the supporting member 7 is provided with alaterally extending wing 22 which is offset downwardly from the arm, asshown at 26, and the top of the neck section 23 is provided with aninturned edge portion 25 and also with three inwardly extendingsupporting portions 24 which are spaced from each other and each ofwhich is provided with an open ended slot 45 to receive a screw 37 thatis carried by the head 39 of the socket body 30. As shown in FIG. 5, thescrew 39 is a shouldered screw having a lower portion of smallerdiameter than the upper body portion. The smaller end of said screwextends through an opening 36 on the edge of the enlarged head 39 andthe end of the screw is screw threaded to receive a clamping nut 41 bywhich the screw is anchored in place with the shoulder 37 of the screwengaging the top portion of the head 39. This screw extends above thesocket body 30 and has a washer 44 on its upper end and beneath the headof the screw. Beneath the washer is a spring 42 which encircles thescrew, the lower end of the spring being received in recess 43 withwhich the socket body portion is provided.

When the socket body portion 30 and. the neck 23 of the reflector areassembled, the upper portion of each screw occupies a slot 45 formed onone side edge of an inwardly directed supporting portion 24, the edgesof the slot being clamped between the head of the screw 37 and thewasher 44 as seen in FIG. 5. By this means the socket body portion 30 isflexibly connected to the inwardly supporting portions `24 of thereflector neck, and said body portion can be detached from the rellectorby turning said socket body portion in a direction to withdraw thescrews 37 from the slots 45.

When the socket cap section and the reflector neck with the socket body30 attached thereto are assembled, the ends of the arms 3 rest on theintumed edge 25 of the reflector neck 23 and each offset wing 22underlies one of the inwardly directed supporting portions 24 of thereector neck.

The reflector 21 with the socket body 30 attached thereto can beassembled with the socket cap 5 by placing the neck 23 of the reliectorin a position with the spaces 50 between the inwardly directedsupporting portions 24 thereof in vertical registering relation with thewings 22 and then moving the reflector upwardly to bring said inwardlydirected edge portions 24 against the underside ends of the arms 8 andthe free end 27 of each offset wing 22 in a plane just below that of theedge 51 of the adjacent inwardly directed supporting portion 24. Withthe socket cap 5 and the neck 23 of the reflector in this relativeposition, a turning movement of the reector relative to the socket capin the direction of the arrow a in FIG. 3 will cause the edge portion 51ott each inwardly directed supporting portion 24 to move over theadjacent offset wing 22 to bring the parts into the relative positionsshown in FIG. 6, in which position the neck 23 of the reector and thearms 8 of the socket c'ap 5 are interlo'cked by the supporting portions24 of the' neck resting on the odset wings 22 of the socket cap, and theends of the arms 8 of the socket cap resting on the inturned edge '25ofthe reil'ector neck 23.

The end 27 of each offset wing 22 is bent downwardly slightly so that itcan easily be movedA into position beneath'the corresponding inwardlydirected supporting portion 24 of the reliector neck. Each of the wings22 is formed with a depression 23" and each ofthe inturned portionsI 24of the reflector neck is provided on its underside with a downwardlyextending protuberanceV 29. When the reflector is properly mounted onthesocket cap, the protuberance 29 on the underside of each of the inwardlyextending supporting portions 24 of the reflector neck occupies thedepression 28 in the corresponding wing- 22 and thus the reflector islyieldingly locked in its operative position, it being understood thatthe wings 22. are slightly resilient to permit them to yield suicientlyto a'llow'the protuberance 29 to move over the wings 22 and into thedepressions 2S during the assembling operation.

The vsocket body section 30 is secured to and supported by-` thesupporting portions 24 of the reflector neck 23. Said socket body 30 isprovided in its lower end with the usualsocket having a screw-threadedcontact sleeve 31 to' iit' the screw-threaded base of an incandescentlight unit 65 and also having the end terminal 32 to engage the endterminal on said light unit.

TheY socket body section 30 is also provided on its top end with twoplug-like contacts 34, 35, one of which is electrically connected to thecontact sleeve 31 and the other of which is electrically connected tothe end terminal 32 by electrical connections such as are usually usedin lamp sockets of this type. These contacts 34, 35 cooperate withsocketl contacts carried by the socket capto establish circuitconnections between the wiring terminals 46 of the socket cap and thesleeve terminal 31 and end terminal 32 of the socket body 30 when thelatterl and the reflector are properly assembled with the socket'cap 5,as will hereinafter be described.

The electrical connection between the wiring terminals 46 carried by thesocket cap 5 and plug contacts 34', 35 ofthe socket body 30 will now bedescribed.

The body 6 of the socket cap is provided with two contact-receivingrecesses 13 and 13a which are open at the bottom of said body as shownat 53 to receive said plug contacts 34, 35. Enclosed in each recess is asocket contact element constructed to cooperate with one of the plugcontacts 34, 35. The socket contact elements are indicated at 14V and14a, and each has two vertical wings 55 which provide a space betweenthem to receive the broad flat top portion 59 of one of the plugcontacts 34 or 35 of the socket body.

One of the wings 55 of each socket contact is shown as having'aprotruding portion 60 which by its engagement with the'contact portion59 of the corresponding plug contact` ensures a proper electricalcontact. Each socket contact 14 and 14a has an extended stem portion 15which terminates in a head 46 that is exposed on the outside ofthesocket cap and constitutes one of the wiring terminals above referredto. As shown, the socket cap b'ody isA cut away on its side to presenttwo recesses i7 to' receiveV the two wiring terminals (see FIG. 2). Thebody 6 of the socket cap is formed on its top with a recess 56whichis'open to the contact-receiving recesses '13, 13u. A removaleplate 19 of insulating material iills the recess 56 and is tiush withthe top surface of said socket cap body. This plate is held in place bya screw 57 which extends through' a diametrical portion 9 of thesupporting platev 7 and also through the body 6 of the socket cap and isscrewed into the'plate 19. Said plate is provided with two openings 62through which the line wires 47 and 47a extend.

It will be remembered that the socket body` 36 and thereector 21 areassembled as a unit with the socket cap 5 and that this operationinvolves a turning' movement of the connected socket4 body and reectorto bring the Wings 22 of the arms 8 of the socket cap into theiroperative relationship to the supporting portions 24 of the reflectorneck. n

The socket contacts 1`4and14tz'are so constructed that after the broadcontact ends 59 of the plug contacts' 34 and 35 have been entered into:the spaces betweenthe wings 55 of said socket contacts, said ends 59areffree to move horizontally relative to the socket contacts, therebypermitting the turning movement of the reflector which is necessary tointerlock the wings 22- with the supporting portions 24of the reflectorneck'. With this construction,

theA reector 21'Y together withY the socket body 30, which is attachedthereto, can easily b'e assembled' with the socket capS'by'enteringlthe' plug contacts 34, 35 of the socket body into thesocket'contacts-14, 14a of the socket cap 5 through the openings 53 and'then turning the reilector with the ends ofthe arms 8 restingkon theinturned edge 2.5 of the re'ector neck to bring the wings 22 in thesocket cap'into their operative position beneath the supporting portions24'of' the reflector neck.

Said connected reflector and socket bodymay be disconnected' from thesocket cap by'turning the reflector and the socket body 30 in thedirection of the arrow b in FIG.' 3', thereby to withdraw the inwardlydirected supporting portions 24 of the reflector neck 23 frornv theirengagement with the wings 22 ofithe arms`8fof the socket cap. Thisturning movement brings the openingsv or spaces 5t) between the adjacentsupporting portions 24 of the reflector neck into register with thewings 22 and the ends 59 of the plug contacts into alignment with theopenings 53'" in the bottoniV o'itheV socket cap 5`, so that the reector2,1 with the socket body" attached theretocan be'separatedV from'said`s`ocket'cap by a downward movement thereof;

I claim:

l. An' electric light fixture comprising a canopy, a socket cap 'withinsaid canopy, means securing said socket cap to'said canopy, said socket'cap' having a pair of contacts anda wiringtermina-lelectricallyiconnected to each contact, a reflector having a necksection provided with a plurality of spaced-apart inwardlydirected'supporting portions, said socket cap having outwardly extendingsupporting portions which cooperate with the inwardly directedsupporting portions of said neck section to supportthe reflector,a'socket body provided with a socket to receive a light unit and alsohaving a pair of plug contacts in engagement' with the contacts of the'socket cap, and means for securing the socket body to the inwardlydirected supporting portions of the neck section. of the reflector.

2. An electric light fixture: comprising a canopy element, a socket caphaving a body ofinsulating material, a pair of socket contactswithin'said body and a supporting member presenting acentral bodyportion and a`plurality of outwardly, extending portions, means securingeach of said outwardly extending portions to the canopy, a reflectorhaving a neck section provided at its top with a plurality of inwardlydirected supporting portions which cooperate with the central body`portion and the outwardly extending portions of said socket cap tosupport detachably the'reiector, a socket body of insulating ma'- terialwithin said neck sectionof the reflector and having a socket to receivea light unit, and means securingl said socket body to theinwardly'directed supporting portions of the neck section of thereector, said socket body having'projecting plug-like contactsengagingfthe contacts of the socket cap. A

3. An electric light'fixture comprising a canopy meniber, a socketV capvof insulating material located-within the canopy member, a pair ofcontacts'carried by said socket cap, a reflectorssupporting membersecured to said socket cap and which presents a plurality of' outwardlyextending substantially itat arms, means securing eachof said outwardlyextending ams to the canopy, a reector having a neck section provided atits top with a plurality of inwardly directed spaced-apart flatsupporting portions which cooperate with the substantially at outwardlyextending alms of said supporting member to support said reector, asocket body of insulating material within the neck section of thereliector, means securing said socket body to the inwardlsI directediiat supporting portions of the neck section of the reector, andplug-like contacts projecting from the top of the socket body anddetachably engaging the contacts of the socket cap.

4. An electric light ixture comprising a canopy member, a socket capwithin the canopy member and having a pair of socketed contacts, eachcontact having a portion exposed on the exterior or said socket cap toprovide a wiring terminal, said socket cap also having areiiectorsupporting member which presents a plurality of radiallyextending supporting arms spaced from each other, each arm having a wingelement extending laterally therefrom, means securing each of said armsto the canopy, a reflector element having a tubular neck section whichis provided at its top with a plurality of inwardly directed flatsupporting portions spaced from each other, said arms of thereiiector-supporting member being of a length to rest on the top edge orsaid neck section and the wing element of each arm being olsetdownwardly from its arm and engaging the underside of one of theinwardly directed supporting portions of the reector whereby thereflector is detachably supported by said socket cap, a socket bodywithin said neck section and provided with a socket to receive a lightunit, means to attach the socket body to the inwardly directedsupporting portions at the top of said neck section, and plug-likecontacts projecting from the top of the socket body and engaging thecontacts of the socket cap.

5. An electric light fixture comprising a canopy member, a socket capwithin the canopy and having a pair of socketed contacts, each contacthaving a portion exposed on the exterior orf said socket cap to providea wire termin-al, said socket cap also having a reflector supportingmember 'which provides a central body portion and a plurality ofradially extending supporting arms spaced from each other, each armhaving a wing element extending laterally therefrom, means securing eachof said yarms to the canopy, a reflector element having a tubular necksection which is provided at its top with a plurality of inwardlydirected iiat supporting portions spaced from each other, said arms ofthe reflector supporting member being of a length to rest on the topedge of said neck section and said central body portion being of a sizeto rest on the inner edge of Isaid inwardly directed nat supportingportions of the reflector neck, and the wing element of each arm beingoiset downwardly from its arm and engaging the underside of one of theinwardly directed supporting portions of the reflector whereby thereflector is detachably supported by said socket cap, a socket bodywithin said neck section and provided with a socket to receive a lightunit, means to attach the socket body to the inwardly directedsupporting portions at the top or said neck section, and plug-likecontacts projecting from the top of the socket body and engaging thecontacts of the socket cap.

6. An electric light fixture as deined in claim 4 in which each inwardlydirected tiat supporting portion of the neck section of the reector has`a protuberance on its underside `and each wing element has Aa recess inits upper side to receive the protuberance on the corresponding inwardlydirected supporting portion of the neck section.

References Cited in the lile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

